UKIP is, apparently, a political party in the United Kingdom. They seem to have some odd and, to me, highly offensive ideas.
My Facebook time line has been providing me with an idea about their irrational thinking. I wish I could say we don't have any political parties here with any ideas like that but of course we have.
I am also not sure that sending bricks to their "FREEPOST" address is a good idea either. That might send them a message but, do too much of it, and it might have consequences for innocent people - or even end the ability of anyone to use the Freepost idea. Sending their literature back Freepost will be just as effective - and much less likely to get them further donations, publicity and other support. Add a campaign of letters to the press which oppose their views and reasoned verbal opposition and their influence will diminish.
One of the candidates however has reportedly raised the prospect of abortion for anyone carrying a child with Down Syndrome. I would rather like this man to meet the girl with Down Syndrome who works in one of the local supermarkets.
It is her job to keep the place clean and tidy during the day. She can be seen sweeping, tidying shelves, clearing away a spill, stacking fruit in the greengrocery area, returning wrongly shelved goods to the right area and helping in the bakery area. Want something packed? She is an expert. Her sense of orderliness would put most people to shame. She knows precisely how to pack a bag of groceries so that nothing gets squashed or damaged.
Last week, after packing things into my rear tricycle basket, I was about to return the trolley to the collection area when she came in from helping an elderly woman to the community bus and she told me, "I'll do it." Yes, she is thoughtful and she loves to help.
I don't know what she gets paid. I have a nasty suspicion she is probably doing it for her disability pension money but she loves her job - and tells everyone she loves it.
I am sure she feels useful and wanted - and she is. There are some people who avoid her but most of the locals who know her will smile and say hello. Her fellow workers have had to smarten up since she joined them. She comes to work clean and tidy and has no qualms about telling the boys to comb their hair or tuck their shirts in properly.
I like her. We are not friends perhaps but we are friendly. She often comes out with quick and funny responses that give me an insight into her world and her way of thinking. She is a useful and contributing member of society. Much of it is due to her family and schooling in an outstanding unit dedicated to the needs of those with learning disabilities. The idea that she might not be here because someone thinks any foetus with Down Syndrome should be aborted appals me.
The UKIP candidate, and those who think like him anywhere in the world, are missing out on something very special - the opportunity to see the world through someone else's eyes.
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4 comments:
Well said, Cat. And it's right to highlight by an individual example how wrong are the sweeping generalisations uttered by (we are told - by UKIP, naturally - what is a small minority) of UKIP candidates. But they keep coming out of the woodwork and one by one UKIP disown them. How many ducklings do you need to count before you know the mother is a duck?
UKIP is racist. Their entire philosophy is based on labeling whole groups of people (immigrants, the disabled, gays, etc) as 'all the same' and then targeting and scapegoating them for the imagined offences of their group of which they are innocent; for which they bear no responsibility and over which they have had no influence, and therefore seek to deny them their human rights.
That is the DEFINITION of racism. And no parading of the odd female, black or Asian candidate is going to change that because liberals accept that women, and black people and those of Asian ancestry have the right to be as misguided as are some aged white middle class males...
I first started attending UKIP meetings (and those of their fellow euroseptic travellers) for intel-gathering purposes back in 1996/7. It's hard to shake off the culture that defines an organisation in its formative days, and many of the things uttered by UKIP members and candidates this year are MILD in comparison to what they would say when they felt they were 'amongst their own'.
They would bus fanatical supporters in from surrounding counties, as a puffer fish inflates itself to make it appear larger than it is.
Their favourite style of debate was the harangue and concerted baracking.
As they were mostly middle-aged or elderly their violence was limited to verbal rather than physical abuse.
For those reasons I nicknamed them COMBAT-68 (after the much younger and more thuggish COMBAT-18).
I remember sitting next to an attractive young woman at a meeting arranged for supporters of UKIP and a number of other fringe groups at the Bath Pump Rooms.
It turned out she was German, and a politics student at Bath Uni. She was there to research the British right wing fringe.
I told her that she might care to leave, as she would be hearing some very unpleasant things said from the platform about foreigners in general and the Germans in particular. She said she was made of sterner stuff and would stick it out come what may. Sensibly, she left after the first two speakers had finished.
However, it did give me unutterable pleasure to converse with her in German in a room full of xenophobes. The Apoplexy Meter was off the scale... :)
:) indeed - wish I had been around to join in with you!
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